102518 | SCOTLAND & FRANCE. Sir Alexander Fleming bronze Medal.

102518  |  SCOTLAND & FRANCE. Sir Alexander Fleming bronze Medal. Issued 1945. Commemorating the physician and microbiologist upon winning the Nobel Prize (68mm, 161.18 g, 12h). By R. B. Baron at the Paris mint.

 

ALEXANDER FLEMING PRIX NOBEL 1945, bust right in lab coat // Microscope, with magnified view of conidia on conidiophores in upper circle; below, semicircle with DECOUVERTE DE LA PENICILLINE and five mold spores of Penicillium rubens. Edge: «cornucopia» BRONZE.

 

Mint State details. Brassy-bronze surfaces, with a slightly glossy nature; some minor scattered spots to the surface in front of Fleming's face prevent what would otherwise be a gem designation.

 

Purely by chance, Scottish researcher Alexander Fleming discovered the interaction of a particular type of mold (Penicillium rubens) when coming into contact with a bacterium. Namely, it inhibited the growth of gram-positive pathogens. This led to the development of the antibiotic penicillin, a medicine that would revolutionize not just the world of medicine, but the world itself. For his role in its discovery and development, he would go on to win the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1945—with this commemorative medal issued in his honor.

 

Upload: 15 August 2023.